music and mortality

One of the great benefits of practising Tai Chi, is that we learn - about a delicate balance - that the things we do to the world around us, we do to ourselves. And the things we do to ourselves, we do to the world around us. We are inseparable from this blue planet. We emerged from within it, are defined by it, and will one day, we will sink back into its heart of star dust and tendrils of light.

But on this fleeting journey of observation and interpretation, we have come to see the world, not through our eyes, or though our hearts, but through our minds. We celebrate our rationality, our dominance over nature and our faulting five senses. Tai Chi however, serves to remind us that this, is just one view amongst many. Another view, just as valid, and perhaps a tad more funky, is that life is a dance, not of the mind but of the hips and that it is going nowhere other than to express the joy of the moment. Tai Chi helps us shift the balance back towards the world of sensuality, of movement, of integration rather than separation and of what Cheng Man Ching described as “Swing and return” - a description of how we ought to start and end our moves - for everything begins with the waist.

hip swinging in tai chi

Our problem here, is that we end up using words once more to define other words. Only the act itself can encompass the reality, the real feeling: that toe-tapping, hip-swinging essence that expresses ourselves in the moment. To that end, the teapotmOnk and Pearl Viper have joined creative forces to produce the first in a series of Taoist inspired EP’s for your most intimate, (and simultaneously public) pleasure. There are no contradictions in this landscape.

4 songs with a taoist twist

For less than the price of a coffee and a muffin, you could be dancing your way to immortality and learning the new language of movement that Chuang Tzu could only have dreamed about - or dreamt he dreamed about, if you remember the story of the butterfly.Dance slowly and seductively to In a Hurry, sup on a moon beam or a fine wine to Nothing Remains Undone, or get up and wiggle your hips frenetically to How do I Know and To become an Immortal. 'The world is your body' said Al Watts, whilst he nibbled on a twiglet, wiggleld his waist and tapped his foot, like he knew know-one was watching.

Contrary to popular belief, the teapotmOnk (paul read) is neither a mOnk nor a teapOt. He is, however, a writer on Tai Chi, speaker, course-creator & teacher with more than 25 years of experience. He can be found wandering between Andalucia (Spain) & Devon (Uk). More here.​Contact him here or keep in touch, subscribe for some great Tai Chi stuff delivered to your inbox. ​